Machine for making hairpins



Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,516

H. v. GLORE ,,--MACHINE FOR MAKING HAIRPINS' Filed Sept. 1926 3Sheets-Sheet 1 ETA.

IN VEN TOR.

BY 1 i Z? TTORNEYS.

Nov. 13, 1928. 1,691,516

H. v. GLORE MACHINE FOR MAKING HAIRPINS Filed Sept. v, 1926 :5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

% Q I ,m' B I i W MTTORNEYS.

Nov. 13, 1928.

H. v. GLORE MACHINE FOR MAKING HAIRPINS Filed Segt. 7. 1926 V sSheets-Sheet 3 6i R 1 ll:-

| I i III" j y H Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

' Unites STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

HARRY V. GLOBE, OF OAKLAND, CALEFORHIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT ANDMESNE AS-SIGNMENTS, TO VEITCH MANUFACTURING COIYIPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEVADA.

MACHINE FOR MAKING HAIRPINS.

Application filed September 7, 1926. Serial No. 183,833.

This invention relates to machines. for making hairpins.

It is the principal object of the present 1nvention to provide a s mpleand "Tiicient ma chine for making hairpins, which machine is automaticin operation and capable of rapidly producing hairpins of a desiredsizexand shape.

in carrying out this object into practice I provide a machine fittedwith a hairpin formmechanism to which one end of a coil of This materialis fei machine automatically in timed relation to the forming mechanismwhich operates in-' termittently to cut off and shape the mate rial fedthereto into hairpins.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated by way of exa .ple in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of'a machine emhodyinr" the preferred formof my invention.

Fi il ustrates the type of hairpin manu- 3 the machine. i a fragmentaryview in front elehe feed mechanism.

i 'tary view in end elevai eehsnism disclosing a porlatter in verticalsection.

4 1? material is led. to the the feed rollers.

6 isa fragmentary view invertical 'ection through. the feed mechanismshowing nrer in which the feed rollers engage the mechanism for formingthe pin Fig. 8 is plan view of the lower portion of the die mechanisn'iwith parts broken away to more clearly disclosecertain features ofconstruction.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation. of the upper and lower die mechanism showingit in raised or inoperative position.

Fig. lO is a front elevation of the die mechanism with the lower portionthereof in section and disclosing the die in a position cutting off thematerial justprior to shaping the pin.

Fig. 11 is a vertical section through the lower die mechanismdiselosingthe manner in which the supporting pins are actuated.

n enlarged view in front eleva- Fig. 12 is a front elevation of the diemechanism disclosing the position thereof during the forming operation.

13 is a front elevation of the die mechanism with parts in sectiondisclosing the position of the die after completing the formingoperation. I v i i Fig. let is a vertical section through the dieiechanism taken on line XIV-XIV of Fig. 13.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, I disclose themechanism embodying the preferred form of my invention as included in astandard type of press. It is to be understood, however, that theinvention may assumeother forms without do parting from the invention.

Reference being had to Fig. 1, 10 indicates 'a. press which may be of astandard type havmg a bedplate 11 and a vertically reciprocable ram 12.This ram 12 is operated and controlled by a crank shaft 1-1, which maybe revolved ata desired speed. in any suitable man .er. In the presentinstance the shaft 14 is shown as fitted with a pulley 16 over whichdriving belt maybe led. During the operation of the machine the she. ft141 revolves continuously at a constant speed. To control the operationof the device/the machine is fitted with a clutch, mechanism 17 which isoperative to discontinuethe'driving connection between the shaft 14; andthe pulley 16 when desired. i

Arranged on the ram and bed plate of the v press is a hairpin formingmechanism, indicated by the numeral 18. The ram 12 car ies the upperportion of the mechanism while the bed plate 11 supports the lowerportion.

It should be stated that upon each complete stroke of the ram a hairpinis completely formed to the shape illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.It is therefore obvious that it is necessary to feed material betweenthe upper and lower portions of the die or mechan1sm intermediate thesuccessive downward strokes of the ram. In the present instancel haveprovided an automatic feed for delivering material to the the ln timedrelation to the operation of the ram. The material used is flat springwire, which is preferably coiled, the free end of the coil being led tothe ma-- chine.

Reference being had to F ig. 1, the feed mechanism is indicated by thenumeral 19. This feed mechanism comprises a sub-frame 20 which is boltedor otherwise secured to the bed plate 11. of the press. This sub-frameis formed with bearings to receive a-pair of shafts 21 and 22, which arearranged horizontally in parallelism one above the other. Secured on theshafts substantially centrally thereof is a pair of feed rollers 23 and24, the peripheries of which are in alignment and closely adjacent sothat the free end of the wire material may be led therebetween and fedto the machine upon rotation 0 the rollers.

It will be noticed from the drawings that the shaft'22 floats in itsbearings so that the lower feed roll may be yieldingly pressed upward tocause frictional engagement between the rollers and the wire ledtherebetween. It is intended that these rollers be intermittentlyoperated to feed the wire between the upper and lower portions of theforming'device in 'synchronism with the operation of the rain.

, crank pin 31, which is eccentrically secured on a crank disk 32. Thiscrank disk is keyed on the drive shaft 14 of the press, so that theconnectin rod 30 will reciprocate in synchronism with the ram. WVlienthe shaft 14 is driven, it will through the medium of the crank disk 32and the crank pin 31 vertically reciprocate the rack 27 by means of theconnecting rod 30. This reciprocationof the rack 27 will be translatedinto rotary movement of the gear 26 on the shaft 21. As the motion ofthe rack is constant, it will revolve the gear 26 alternately inopposite directions. It being intended that the feed rollers 23 bedriven in one direction only and at spaced intervals, I providemechanism which causes the rack to revolve the shaft 21 on the downwardstroke only. This mechanism includes a ratchet gear 33, which is securedon the shaft 21 contiguous to the gear 26. A pawl 34 is mounted on thegear 26 and is adapted to engage the ratchet 33, and impart rotationthereto and to the shaft 21 upon the downward stroke of the rack 27. Onthe upward stroke of the rack 27, the pawl does not effect a drivingengagement between the gear 26 and the ratchet and consequently the feedrollers 23 and 24 remain idle during the upward stroke of the rack. Thestroke of the rack is sufiicient to revolve the feed rollers 23 anamount necessary to deliver the proper amount of material to the formingdevioeand position it to be operated upon by the for1ning device. To aidin guiding the wire'material to the forming device a guide 35 isprovided through which the free end of the wire ext-ends as it emergesfrom between the feed rollers 23 and 24; s I

Reference being had to Figs. 7 and 3 it is seenthat the forming deviceincludes a shoe 36 which is bolted on the bed plate and supportsthe'lower portion of the die. This lower portion includes a guide block37 arranged at the rear, and-a pair of cams 38'which are 'arranged uponopposite sides of the center at the front of the guide block'37. Theguide block 37 is fitted with three supporting inem bers 39, 40 and 41.The. members 39 and 41 are disposed at opposite ends of the guide block,while the member 40 is disposed centrally thereof. These supportingmembers 39, 40 and 41 are reciprocably mounted in the guide block 37 andare normally held in for Ward positions by means of springs 42. At

their forward ends these guide members 39,

40 and 41 are provided with pins 43 which project outwardly a shortdistance or the distance equal to the spacing between the guide block 37and the cams 38, against the latter of which they abut. This spacingbetween the guide block 37 and the cams 3S is just slightly greater thanthe width of wire material of which the hairpin is formed. The wirematerial from .tlie'feed meohan 19 i led between the guide block 37 andthe cams 38 as shown in Fig. 7 and in this position will be supported bythe pins 43 of he supporting members 39, 40 and 41.

lVhen in position to be operated upon, the free end of the wire materialabuts against a stop member 44. This step memberv 44 has a projection45, the under surfaceof which is curved so as to properly guide the endof the wire into position upon the pins 43. Aft .r the material has beenfed into position the ram 12 descends to the position illustrated inFig. 10. r It will be noticed that the upper portion of the die includesa pair of forming jaws 46, which are located upon opposite sides of thecenter. These aws are pivotally suspended from the upper portion orhead47 of the'die adapted to cut off the material from'the free end of thewire roll.

When the ram carrying the diehead at scends to the position shown inFig. 10, the

Wire within the die is clamped against the center pin 43 of thesupporting member 40. At

this point the pins 43 carried by the sugporting members 39 and 41 arewithdrawn; This Cal is accomplished by means of retracting members 50located at opposite ends of the die head. These retracting members 50have tapered. lower ends, which are adapted to project through guideopenings 51 formed in the top of the guide block 37. The guide members39 and -11 are formed with similar holes, which are disposed when themembers 39 and ll are in forward position, slightly out of alignmentwith the guide openings 51.

However, when the retracting members O project through the openings 51their tapered lower ends engage the openings in the members 39 and 41and retract them a distance sufficient to withdraw the supporting pins&3 carried thereby to a position within the guide block 3?,leaving theopposite ends of the wire or which the pin is to be formed unsupported.7

J stated, however, the wire is at its center between the central pi 43and the jaws e6. As the ther the shear, blade shears the mat rial at thepoint indicated by the numeral As the die head further descends the endsof the jaws 4E6 cause the opposite ends, of the billet of the materialin the die to bend downwardly about the center pin d3. As the jaws 46descend, they engage the cams 38 and move inwardly toward each other.

For this purpose the jaws are formed with two cam surfaces 53 and whichengage cam surfaces 55 formed on the cams on. l v hen the cam surta 58on the jaws engage the cam surfaces 55 on the cams 38, the jaws aremoved inwardly a slight distance, as shown in Fig. 12, to bend the legsof the pin parallel. hen this position the die head is reached aretracting member 56 engages the center supporting member and retractsthe pin carried thereby from engt ement g with the pin being formed.During this time the pin will be t'rictionally held between the aws andby an abutmentm'ember 57, extending transversely between the jaws. Thisabutment member prevents the pin from creeping upwardly during itsforming operation. 1

During the time interval necessary to withdraw the supporting pin 43 ofthe member 40, rest period is provided for the jaws 16. Just after thepin 43 is withdrawn, the cam surfaces on the jaws d6 engage the camsurfaces on the cams 38 and crimp the pin, as shown in Fig. 13. Thiscrimping action takes place at the end of the stroke of the ram, and issuiiicient to place thelegs of the hairpin in parallelism and in contactfor a major portionot their length.

It will be noticed that the meeting surfaces of the jaws are recessedslightly just above their lower ends, so as to accommodate the eye ofthe pin. WVhen the bottom of the stroke has been reached the ramwithdraws upwardly and the aws release the pin, which supported i diehead descends fur drops through an opening 60in the shoe to a chuteorother device suitable to convey it to a receiving container. As the rammoves upwardly the feed mechanism commences operation to feed the wireinto position for a successive operation. 1

In operation of the device a coiled wire is rranged on a spindle and itstree end is inserted between the feed rollersinto position 7 isretracted and the jaws descend furtherand are moved together to crimpthe pin as shown in Fig. 13.

When the pinis properly formed the lower end of the stroke isreached andthe ram commences to move upwardly. This upward movement of the ram willbe accompanied by separation of the aws and the release of the pin,which may drop into a proper receptacle. After the ram is moved upwardlyan amount to clear the die, the feed mechanism commences operating andwill feed a newbillet of wire into proper position in the die. Thisfeeding operation is completed shortly after the ram commences itsdownward stroke, so that the feed mechanism remains idle during theforming operation.

It should be stated that the operating stroke ofth e rack 27 of the feedmechanism is sufficient to feed the proper amount of material to the dieand to properly position it with respect to the operating elementsthereof.

It is to be understood that the crank shaft of the press is continuouslyrevolved during the operation of the machine, and that the cutting offand forming of the pin is accomplished in asingle downward stroke of theram. This-enables the device to very rapidly form the hairpins from thespool of ire. In

actual practice I have founda machine of this type capable ofproducingtroni between one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred andfifty pins per minute.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided a comparativelysimple mechanism for rapidly producing hairpins which mechanism is veryefficient and is not liable to become out of order or need of repairs.

Vhile I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its construction by thoseskilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention,as defined in the appended. claims.

ISO.

means on the die parts for shearing the ma terial to proper length,removing the supportmg means and forming the hairpin ma con tinuousoperation.

2. A; hairpin forming die including a sta tionary die part having meansfor supporting a billet of material in a position to be operated upon, areciprocable die part adapted to cooperate with the stationary die part,shearing means on the reciprocable die part and the stationary die partfor shearing the material to proper length, cooperative forming means onthe reciprocable die part and the stationary die part for forming thehairpin sub sequent to the shearing of the material, and cooperativemeans on the die parts for Wlbl1 drawing the supports for the materialas the shearing and forming operations proceed.

A hairpin forming die comprising a stationary die part upon Which alength of ma-' terial to be formed may be disposed, supports for saidmaterial adapted to support the same at its opposite ends and center,cooperative shearing means on the die parts to shear said material tothe" proper length, cooperative means on the die parts for Withdrawingsaid end supports just prior to the shearing operation, a pair ofpivotal forming members adapted to engage the material as it is shearedand press it against said center support, cam means on said formingmembers and said stationary die part for bending the ends of saidmaterial in parallelism about the center support, cooperative means onthe die parts for withdrawing'the center support when said ends ofthelWire are bent in parallelism, cam

means on said forming members and said sta tionary die part forcrin'iping the hairpin and placing the legs thereof in intimate contactimmediately upon Withdrawal of said center support, said operationsoccurring during a single stroke or" the reciprocable die part to- Wardthe stationary die part, and means for causing said forming members torelease the formed pm innnediately after the reciprocab le die partcompletes its operating stroke and commences to Withdraw fromthestationary die part.

4. A hairpin forming ,die comprising a sta tionary die part upon which alength of mat rial to be formed maybe disposed, a center" support tosupport the material at its center, a pair of pivotal forming membersadapted to engage the material and press it against said center support,cam. means onsaid forming members and said stationary die part forbending the ends of said material in parallelism about said centersupport, cooperative means on the die parts for Withdrawing the centersupport when the ends of the mat rial are bent inparallelism, cammeans'on said forming members and said stationary die.

)art for crimnin the hairpin and alacin the legs thereof in intimatecont? ct immediat ly upon withdrawaloi said center supper operationoccurring during a single the forming members tovarc the sdie part.

5. A hair pin forming die comprising a stationary die part upon which alength of material to be formed may be disposecha center oils ofMOT-titty upport to support the material at its center,

part for crimping the hairpin and placing the legs thereof in intimatecontact'imznediately upon Withdrawal of said center support, saidoperation occurring during single stroke. of the forming memberstoward'the stationary die part, and means for causing said formingmembers to release the'i'ormed pin immediatelyaftcr the reciprocable diePart completes its operating strolre andcommences to Withdraw from thestationar die 1 part, V

1 HARRY V GL

